Male Mahadeshwara Betta or MM Hills Temple

The ancient and sacred temple of Sri Male Mahadeshwara is located in South end of India, that is, it belongs to Chamaraja Nagar District, Karnataka State in India. It is a very popular & holy ancient temple, surrounded by 77 hills in the Eastern Ghats. The Lord Sri Mahadeshwara is believed to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva. It is a very famous Shaiva piligrim centre. The Lord Sri Mahadeshwara's miracles are beautifully sung by the village folk in Janapada Style. The height of the hill is about 3000 feet from the sea level. About 600 years ago, Sri Mahadeshwara Swamy came here to perform penance & it is believed that he is still performing penance in the temple's Garbha Gudi in the form of Linga. The Linga, worshiping now in the Garbha Gudi is a self developed one. Sri Male Mahadeshwara Swamy was moving on a tiger known as Huli Vahana (Tiger as a vehicle) & performed a number of miracles around the hills to save the people & saints living there. The area of the temple surroundings is 155.57 acres. In addition, the temple has lands at Talabetta, Haleyuru & Indiganatha Villages.

Thousands of devotees visit Male Mahadeshwara Hills from Karnataka and the neighboring state, Tamilnadu. Pilgrims who visit here will have a holy dip in Antaragange (Ganges from deep), near the temple, this is a peculiar water flow from the ground arises during the entire year and the origin is not yet known.

RITUALS & SEVAS:
There will be poojas & Archana thrice a day, the first worship of the day starts at 5.30 in the morning & Rudrabhisheka is performed between morning 6 & 8 and again between 10.30am and 12 noon. The evening poojas will take place between 6.30 and 8.00. There will be special poojas on Sankashta Chathurthi, Amavasya & Pournami. The most special pooja is known as Maha Rudrabhisheka will be performed only on Thursdays on behalf of the devotees who contribute for that.

Nithyothsava:
After the morning pooja, the special procession of the deity will be done with all temple honours. The Government has fixed the rates of the sevas.

Anna Dasoha Bhavana:
At present everyday nearly 4000 people who are visiting the temple are provided with free food in Dasoha Bhavana building. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs.1 Crore. Devotees may contribute for Anna Dasoha Seva. If any devotee pays one Rs. 1501 or more for Anna Dasoha, it will be kept in eternal fixed deposit & its interest amount will be utilised for Anna Dasoha Seva. Devotees can also contribute in Cash or vegitables or corns or paddy or rice etc.

HISTORY & LEGEND

The place, Sri Male Mahadeshwara Hills has become a Universally famous pilgrim center. Millions of Devotes, visit this temple every year for getting the blessings of Sri Lord Mahadeshwara Swamy, the presiding deity of this place. According to legends, young saint came from Srishaila to this part of the state. In his boyhood he has spiritually guided by then pontiff of Suthur Mutt & Kunthur Mutt. He is said to have performed several miracles in his life, in these places. Afterwards he went to the hillside. It is a dense forest area surrounded by Seventy Seven hills to seven circles. It was not a safe place for human habitation. It was about 6 centuries ago the young saint went to the forest area, to save the saints who were performing penance and taken to bondage by a person known as Shravana who pocessed abundant black magic power. Apart from this there were tribes living here and there in small groups who were devoid of any rays of human civilization. It is said that this Lord Sri Mahadeshwara destroyed the black magic power of Sravana and got released the saints who were in his prision. The place where they were kept in prison is also a holy place, called "Thavasare" & the place where Shravana lived is called as "Sravana Boli". There are several places of historical interest in this area to which the devotees often pay their visits. The miracle activities of Sri Lord Mahadeshwara Swamy have been sung by the devotees even to this day. The voluminous literature of folk songs in Kannada language is published by research scholors. It is said that there are folk songs in Tamil language also, but necessary effort is not made to collect & publish them. More devotees are coming from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & other states also. This area was included in Madras State (now called Chennai) prior to 1956, ie., before the re-organization of States of India. Subsequently it has become part of the Karnataka State.

It is said that the saint Lord Mahadeshwara established a Mutt here for looking after the religio-cultural affairs of the people of this area. It is also said that, he has transformed the attitude of the hill tribes & made them his disciples. The people coming from these families have become hereditary Archaks of this temple. The temple was under the control & management of Sri Salur Mutt established by Sri Lord Mahadeshwara till it was handed over to the Madras Government in the year 1953. After the formation of Karnataka the Administration of the Temples is done by the trust committee, appointed by the Karnataka Government under the Muzrai Department.

About 50 years ago there was no road facilities to this place. people used to reach the place by walking. At present there are road connections from Karnataka & Tamil Nadu States. More than 100 buses are flying in this route everyday.

Festivals: More devotees will gather in the festival of Mahanavami (Dasara), Deepavali, Karthika, Shivarathri, Yugadhi & Sravana. there will be Jathras in the above said periods. The Government of Karnataka & Tamil Nadu provide special bus facilities at the times of the Jathras.

Raja Gopura: The deity is facing west and the door of the Sanctorum is also facing west, when the prakaram was constructed, the entrance of the templ was given to the south & north. In the south there is Gopuram & in the north entrance there is a big Bull God (Basava). According to Vasthu Shilpa, the main entrance must be from western side. After knowing this the construction of Raja Gopuram was done on the western side which cost about 65 lakhs.

Ughe Anni Malaya Mahadeshwaranige, Ughe Anni huli govugala kataluva jaga dodayanige. Ughe, Ughe. Lord Male Mahadeshwara was born in the Kaliyuga. He chose his mother as Uttrajamma. He learnt in Saluru Mutt at Male Mahadeshwara Hills. He has many legends which could are narrated on his name. To name one of them is Sankamma Kate. This narrates about the devotion she had on the Lord. Male Madheshwara narrates the adventures and achievements of a spiritual hero of the Shaiva people of southern Karnataka. Probably he lived in the 14th century. According to the story Mahadeshwara was born to a fair coloured virgin woman. Shiva incarnates himself on earth as Mahadeshwara to destroy an evil king called Shravanasura.

A pilgrimage to Malai Mahadeswara temple also includes a holy dip in the "antaragange", a stream flowing from a perennial source.

Accommodations at Male Mahadeshwara
The boarding and lodging with modern amenities are also to all the visiting devotees provided with sincerly. The guest houses include Mahadeshwara Bhavana, Gurudarshini, Giridarshini, Shivadarshini etc.

The average flow of pilgrims is about 4,000 people everyday. Advanced mechanized and clean kitchen provides free food for all pilgrims at the Dasoha Bhavana, the beautiful dining hall is equipped to feed people. Devotees may contribute for Anna Dasoha Seva.

Trekking
Trek to Palar from M M Hills is famous and takes about 2 days. One has to trek to Nagamale (1000m) via Indignata (874m), a hill which has a huge rock split into two portions which resembles a Linga guarded
by a snake. On the next day the trek will begin from Nagamale to the Parasalnatham (654 m) then Palar. This route has scenic view and one can enjoy the nature bounty.
For More Information : Click Here

We have unfolded this site so that we could share the knowledge of our Sanathana Hindu Dharma and its teachings by Great Gurujis. You will get all the details of famous Temples and Kshetrams in this site.

Caution:

Information on Hindu Dharma Contained in this work / blog has been revealed by Guruji. This Blog is not Maintained by Guruji. Author of the blog Shall not be responsible for any errors, omissions, or damages arising out of use of this information.